Getting into bed should be legally mitigating factor

One need only look at Mike Tyson's facial tattoos to realize this guy does not just have a screw loose, he has great big bolts clanking around in there.

Tyson's tattoos may reflect the rest of his persona -- they look like deranged doodles.

Nevertheless, I never have been comfortable with the fact that Tyson spent three years in prison on a rape charge. This was a case in which a woman voluntarily accompanied Tyson to his hotel suite in the wee hours of the morning, went to his bedroom with him, and then got in his bed.

I can't help but wonder what women think will happen if they make a habit of jumping into the sack with young men who have normal hormonal drives. Ferocious feminists preach that ''no'' always means ''no.'' They even say that when a sex act has already begun, the male must stop instantly instead of continuing, as reportedly happened with Kobe Bryant.

In theory, that may sound like a valid argument; in actual practice, I think raging hormones may be as strong as the physiological mechanisms that produce involuntary hiccups.

For various reasons unrelated to Tyson's rape case, jail might be a good place for him. Among other things, it would keep him off our public roads and away from people's ears.

I have misgivings, however, when the legal system makes no distinction, at all, between a case in which a beast grabs an innocent victim from a sidewalk and rapes her, and a case in which an adult woman agrees to get in bed with a man and then coyly says ''no.''

Weekend stories told of rape charges being filed against Parkland High School graduate and Penn State star football player Austin Scott.

One story, on Sunday, also made comparisons with the cases involving Tyson, Bryant and other star athletes. The story quoted one expert as saying such luminaries ''get a sense of entitlement at a very young age,'' suggesting that their behavior may be tainted by being full of themselves.

There was no mention of any possibility that some women may have motives for pursuing star athletes, as conveyed by the lyrics of a song written in 1933 and still played by rah-rah scholastic bands. ''You've to be a football hero to get along with beautiful girls. You've to got be a touchdown getter ... '' and so forth.

In touchdown getter Scott's case, it was reported, a woman voluntarily joined him for drinks at a State College bar, voluntarily went with him to his apartment, voluntarily got into his bed in the wee hours of the morning, and then, egad, Scott had sex with her.

There are other factors reported in this case. For example, the woman said Scott gave her a kidney punch. If that is true, prosecute him, by all means, for punching her.

At some point, however, somebody needs to have the courage to face the wrath of ferocious feminists and bring some degree of common sense to these kinds of situations.

In murder cases, we decide whether to execute people on the basis of mitigating and aggravating factors. We need a similar approach in cases involving sex. Grabbing a victim from a sidewalk or playground and raping her simply is not the same as being in bed with a willing woman who suddenly has a change of heart after the windows get steamed up with heavy breathing.

I'm not saying such behavior should never be prosecuted, but let's apply some common-sense mitigating factors.